Former White House counsel John Dean on Friday cautioned the Trump administration against overreacting now that special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly obtained grand jury indictments in the Russia investigation.
"One of the things is to not overreact, or take actions that are going to jeopardize your case or your situation," Dean, who counseled President Richard Nixon and was implicated in the Watergate scandal, told Anderson Cooper on CNN.
The cable network reported Friday that Mueller's investigators had obtained the first federal grand jury indictments in its inquiry into Moscow's meddling in last year's presidential election.
The charges remained sealed under the order of a federal judge, according to the report.
In light of what has not yet been made public, Dean cautioned: "An unknown, or unexpected indictment, could be more of a problem than an expected indictment.
"Manafort is sort of expected," he said, referring to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
The FBI, armed with a search warrant obtained by Mueller's investigators, raided Manafort's home before dawn in July, seizing financial records and other information.
"Something that they're not anticipating, they may well overreact to," Dean told Cooper. "So, I think it's a good time to look at the history book, in how they handle this politically."
Dean said the Nixon White House made many mistakes during Watergate, which led to the president's resignation in 1974.
"I would advise them to look at what we did wrong, and not repeat that action," he told Cooper. "I would say not to overreact to this.
"That's where you can get into trouble.
"This White House has a tendency to overreact," Dean added, saying that President Trump should turn the matter over to his private counsel, Ty Cobb.
"That would be a good place to start," he said. "Let Cobb handle it, rather than the press office or president."